PhD Position in Vertical Flight Technology

Uncrewed aircraft are becoming an increasingly important part of civil and military air operations. In contrast to manned rotorcraft, which have well‑established standards such as ADS‑33 for evaluating and certifying their flying qualities, unmanned aircraft lack similar standards. As a result of their rapid development cycles, these systems often have unique design and development strategies that differ from those used in conventional manned aircraft. This can lead to a wide range of flying qualities that vary in performance and efficiency across different platforms. With the broad range of applications and operating environments envisioned for these types of systems, particularly in the case of VTOL aircraft, it becomes challenging to prescribe and assess desired operating characteristics.

The candidate will research the development of flying quality standards for uncrewed VTOL aircraft. These standards should be suitable for guiding stakeholders through a systematic evaluation process. The goal is to create standards that are platform‑agnostic and not restricted to a specific vehicle size or mission, in line with ADS‑33 for manned rotorcraft.

The uncrewed standards will be mission‑specific and consist of two main components: predictive metrics and autonomous flight demonstrations. The specific Mission Task Elements (MTEs) and Flight Test Manoeuvres (FTMs) will be determined during the project. There is particular interest in metrics and/or MTEs that can characterize the shipboard operational capability of uncrewed VTOL platforms. This includes tasks such as relative navigation and landing in the presence of ship motion and airwake.

To support the development and verification of the standards, a combination of simulation and flight testing activities is foreseen, using drone platforms operated by the NLR Drone Centre. The PhD position also involves the development and demonstration of robust, and possibly adaptive (INDI), flight control laws for the demonstrator platforms. These control laws will be designed based on the proposed flying quality standards. Both identified (SysID) and physics‑based (FLIGHTLAB) flight dynamics models will be used to support simulation activities and control law developments. These models may already exist or be developed during the project.

• Master’s degree in Aerospace Engineering with a Control & Simulation focus
• Experience with rotorcraft modelling, handling qualities, and (drone) flight testing is appreciated
• Excellent communication skills in spoken and written English
• Able to balance broad research scope and real‑world application

The candidate will receive a 4‑year research contract from NLR and will be enrolled in the Doctoral Education programme of Delft Technical University. During this time, the candidate will work closely together with NLR colleagues in Amsterdam and Marknesse within the Vertical Flight department, and with supervisors from Delft Technical University and the Netherlands Defence Academy (NLDA).

In addition we offer:

• No fewer than 45 days off (with full‑time employment)
• A fixed end‑of‑year bonus of 8%
• A contribution towards your healthcare costs
• Extra paid parental leave
• The possibility to work from home